Circle Invest Adds Zcash Trading in Bid to Compete with Coinbase

Goldman Sachs-backed fintech startup, Circle has announced that it will be adding Zcash to its Circle Invest platform.

The platform, released following beta testing in March, aims to compete with Coinbase, providing users with instant, commission-free crypto asset trading. It provides a simple service that lets users buy cryptocurrencies with ease. Circle Invest users can purchase and invest as little as $1 and the service does not command a fee, although it says the spread between buy and sell orders is approximately one percent.

At launch, the app supported Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC), but at the time Circle Invest promised to add other altcoins. Today’s announcement confirms that the next addition is Zcash.

Zcash is a decentralised and open-source cryptocurrency that provides strong privacy and enables shielded transactions to hide the sender, recipient and value on the blockchain. A tweet from Circle Invest has welcomed Zcash to the ‘Circle Invest family’ and stated it is available to buy right now.

Hello, Zcash 👋. A new coin just joined the Circle Invest family, and it’s available for you to buy right now. Learn more here: https://t.co/pR0y6T1H2K

“Our mission for Circle Invest is to democratize access to investing in crypto assets for every consumer. Making the wider breadth of assets available on Circle Invest will continue to be a part of this mission, and of course doing our best to ensure that we bring the crypto without the cryptic to everyone, anywhere.”

Mayer added that there will be more announcements in the coming weeks.

Zcash has been called out by NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowdon as an interesting alternative to Bitcoin. In a Twitter post last September, he said that “Zcash’s privacy tech makes it the most interesting Bitcoin alternative. Bitcoin is great, but “if it’s not private, it’s not safe.”

Earlier this year, Grayscale investments published an investment thesis predicting that the Zcash price could reach $60,000 by 2025 if investors begin to use it in place of traditional offshore banking services. Grayscale analyst Matthew Beck wrote that that Grayscale believes Zcash could prove to be the “first globally accessible ‘offshore’ investment opportunity.”